EmbeddedSystemsForU.Com

Consumer electronics is a huge market valued at 1.3 trillion dollars in 2023.

A few examples of consumer electronics are

• AC (Air Conditioner)
• Refrigerator
• Mobile
• Television
• Computer
• Gaming consoles
• Wearables, etc.

Consumer electronics are a type of electronics that are used by consumers.

You will find consumer electronics everywhere, from mobile phones to smartwatches. From a smart pencil used in tablets to high-end satellite communication devices. It is everywhere.

A few consumer electronics seen in recent years are as follows

• More use of AI, ML, and VR technology

In recent years, we have seen that more technology-based products are coming onto the market. As we can see, technology like AI is used in almost every consumer household electronics item like washing machines, TVs, refrigerators, AC, etc., even earphones. ML and virtual reality are also being used in electronic items.

• Fast/ Quick E-commerce

People are becoming more prone to laziness and want everything fast with just a click of a button on their mobile phones. So companies like Amazon.com have introduced same-day and one-day delivery options to attract customers who just have to join their loyalty program by paying a subscription fee.

• Environmentally friendly products

This is also one of the most popular trends, as more and more products are becoming environmentally friendly through the use of recycled plastic or materials that are biodegradable to an extent.

• Social media as a marketing platform

Every big company nowadays has an online channel and page that is used for marketing online. Every mobile company sends mobile phones for review to big content creators for promotion.

Making videos that are appealing attracts more and more people to purchase them.

If you see a big celebrity or content creator using a particular brand or model of smartphone. You will also try to be like them by buying a phone. So, mind programming plays a big role in these types of marketing campaigns.

Nowadays, electronic wearables can be seen everywhere. Smartwatches are the most common ones

Other wearables are VR (Virtual Reality), smart glasses, smart clothes, sports wearables, activity trackers, smart jewelry like rings, etc.

All of these devices have the same concept of working: they measure some parameter, process it, and display or send it to some location.

Smartwatches: They are the most common wearable electronics nowadays. Different famous companies manufacture smartwatches like Apple, Samsung, Google, Boat, OnePlus, etc. They can measure different parameters like

• Steps
• Skin temperature
• Heart rate
• Calories burned
• Sleep Quality
• Blood pressure
• Blood oxygen levels, etc.

With the advancement in technology, they have become very cheap, and today, anyone with a low budget can buy them.

Virtual reality set: It is a computer environment that looks like a real-life experience. It has different sensors that create the environment corresponding to the real world and give a real-like sensation/feeling.

Smart clothes: They consist of a special type of fiber/ fabric and several different sensors embedded in it. It gives real-time data of users’ body responses in different situations in terms of body signals.

Sports wearables: They are also used to measure body markers and body responses in different conditions, which could be optimized to enhance the performance of players.

Jewellery smart ring: It can measure heart rate, SpO2, sleep, activity rate, steps, calories burned, GPS, ECG (electrocardiogram), etc.

The following are the top 5 Advantages and disadvantages of HFCVs

Advantages:

• Zero emission: Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are zero-emission vehicles, so they are safe for the environment
• Energy efficiency: The fuel energy efficiency of HFCV (Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle) is 65% compared to that of conventional 35% internal combustion engine vehicles.
• Versatility: They can be used for public transport, personal vehicles, military, etc.
• Fast refueling: HFCVs are highly user-friendly as compared to BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles) for their fast fuel tank charging. It takes only 5 minutes to fill the tank of an HFCV (Car).
• No mining is required for minerals as done in BEVs.

Disadvantages:

• Infrastructure challenges: Building infrastructure is very difficult for HFCV since the design complexity is high in storing and feeding fuel.
• Cost of fuel: Hydrogen is expensive because of the electrolysis process. $5 of hydrogen and $1.5 of gasoline give the same running distance.
• Limited availability: Hydrogen fuel is limited because of the production process cost. It is not directly available in nature. On top of this, storage and supply costs are also very high.
• Safety: Although it is very safe, hydrogen is extremely flammable. It can ignite in an atmosphere in the concentration range of 4-74%. On top of that, it is not visible, odorless and tasteless. So, detection by the human body is also not possible.
• Till now, no major accident or death has happened with the Toyota Mirai.

• Since electric vehicles have their advantages and disadvantages, there is an alternative to electric vehicles.
• These HFCVs (Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles) do not contain any batteries like electric vehicles.
• Hydrogen is the most fundamental and most abundant element in the universe.
• Hydrogen cells are a type of cell that can produce electricity by the conversion of air (oxygen) and hydrogen into water.

Working principle: A Hydrogen cell usually consists of the cathode (+ve charge), the Anode (-ve charge), and electrolyte in between them.

When a hydrogen molecule breaks down into a proton and an electron due to an electrochemical reaction, the proton travels to the cathode, and electrons travel in the circuit to provide electricity.

Protons, electrons, and oxygen combine at the cathode to make water.

The advantages and disadvantages of hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are covered in another link (post). But some of them are covered here.

Advantages:

• Clean energy like conventional battery EVs, but no longer is time required for charging
• No mining process is required, which destroys the natural habitat

Disadvantage:

• Complex design of a car

• Toyota is the most researched company in hydrogen cell EVs
• Toyota Mirai is the most successful hydrogen CEV of Toyota with a range of around 400 miles and costs 50000 dollars in the USA (starting price)
• India has two popular HFCVs: Toyota Mirai and Hyundai Nexo.
• Leh and Delhi are the first places in Ladakh where HFCVs have been introduced in Ladakh for public transportation.
• The government is also interested in the R&D of this field since it covers the major disadvantages of BEVs (Battery Electric Vehicles)
• In the future, we will see more and more hydrogen-based vehicles

The following are the advantages and disadvantages of EVs.

Advantages:

• Low running cost as compared to conventional fuel cars.
• Low maintenance cost due to lack of moving parts.
• No carbon dioxide emission, which would ultimately result in the degradation of the ozone layer and contribute to global warming.
• Silent performance and less vibration/ jerkless performance are a great advantage.
• Subsidy on purchases by the government and many rebates.

Disadvantages:

• Higher cost of purchase due to the cost of the battery and motor.
• Limited range of around 300-500 KM due to energy storage density limitation.
• Charging infrastructure is also good in poor and developing countries.
• Battery life is also not high at around 15-20 years or 100000 to 200000 miles, which is very less.
• Mining related to minerals used in EVs also causes bad environmental effects.